Gelyne in Brothe

Gelyne in Brothe (Harleian MS, 4016) - photo to be posted soon

Take rawe hennes, chop hem, caste hem into a potte; cast to fressh broth Wyne, parcelly, oynons myced, powder of peper, clowes, Mace, saffroun, and salt; then stepe brede with vinegre and be same broth, and draw hit thorgh a streynour, and cast it thereto, and lete boyle ynogh; And caste thereto pouder ginger, and sesone hit vp, & serue forth.

Gelyne in Brothe (Hen in Broth)

For this recipe one can use two chicken legs with backs attached.

ingredients
2 Chicken Legs,
1.5 Cups of chicken broth; otherwise use water (boiling action will create broth from the fats and skins of the legs)
1 Cup white wine. (I used red wine as this is what I had, however to make it more favourable cut it back to a 1/2 cup and mix a half cut of water to the wine).
1 slice of dark bread - breadcrumbs will do, and for those, like myself that have problems digesting wheat, substitute 1.5 Tablespoons of corn starch.
1 Teaspoon wine vinegar
1/2 small cooking onion, minced (finely chopped will also work)
1 Teaspoon salt
dash of pepper - I substituted long pepper
pinch of saffron
1/4 Teaspoon clove powder. Be careful not to exceed the amount as this is an over powering spice
1/2 Teaspoon of mace powder
1 Teaspoon ginger powder.

Instructions

Put all ingredients into covered pot and bring to boil, than reduce heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until chicken is tender. You may want to check the interior temperature of the legs, and make sure that it reads 70C or greater. When cooked remove chicken.

To thicken broth for sauce, soak bread in 1 teaspoon of wine vinegar and a bit of the broth. Grind bread mixture to a paste, or pass through a strainer. Breadcrumbs work just a good. Or you may wish to mix corn starch in about 4 tablespoons of cold water. Add it to the broth in the pot and bring to boil until desired thickness of sauce is achieved. Serve hot with chicken, or pour over chicken. Serves 2.

Acknowledgement: Take a Thousand Eggs or More - Second Editions Vol. one.

Roast Chicken or Guniea Fowl

As the yule season is upon us I Christiana will not be talking to much on reference to cooking on fowl from the Medieval Ages, but rather of a recipe that was past down from mother to daughter for generations by word of mouth and even through bits of paper maybe of different languages. This recipe was pasted down by my grandmother from my mother's side of the family and has had minor changes preformed to it throughout the decades if not centuries. So lets begin with the basics - We are not going to hang the chicken by its neck and let is get high like some cultures do before cooking. Not only is there a strong chance of becoming sick it is not food safe.

In finding a bird to work with: In Medieval days Guinea Fowl is mention. Yes it is still available but they tend to be small birds and can be hard to attained. The substitute would be Turkey. Now to determine how much to purchase. Some say 3 lbs others say 2 lbs. Unless you like leftovers I would say 1.4 lbs would be enough per serving, as there are other dishes that are served on the yule feast table. So we would take 1.4 lb times number of people to serve, but remember with chickens the min. weight for roasting would be about 4 lbs and with turkeys the min is usually somewhere around 8 to 10 lbs. So lets say your gathering is six people - that would be 6 x 1.4 lbs or in other wards 8.4 lbs would be what is required.

Lets prepare the bird. If the bird if frozen, one has to options, one is to thaw in cold water at less than 4 C. and the safer method is thawing in the refrigerator, taking care that the juices from the bird do not leak from the wrapping and cause cross food contamination with bacteria, onto other foods that may be stored as well in the refrigerator that can make one sick and can even lead to death. Place the bird below all other foods when thawing would be preferred, but for the domestic refrigerator it is nearly impossible to do so, therefore place the bird in a leak proof pan that is large enough to hold the bird.

Once thawed the next step involved is to do some minor cleaning, and this should take no time at all. Make sure to clean the inside of the bird out. There is possible organs left behind as the modern food processing companies use automation for a lot of this job of cleaning, but it also means that if there is a package within the bird for the heart, liver and gizzer remove the package but don't throw out. Also some birds have the neck included inside the cavity as well. I myself do not use the neck as there is not much meat on it and when cook can pose a danger of someone eating the neck bones. One may however use it in soup stock, but it is recommended to strain the stock of the neck bones. At the large opening of the clean bird we have a pokes nose - which is also where the oil comes from that the bird uses to oil its feathers. Cut this off and discard as all this does is affect the taste of the bird.

Now that the bird is prepared, it is time to decide if to dress or not. If not - melt butter and add spices in a fry pan and melt, than pour into the birds cavity, and rotate the the bird so to evenly spread the glaze throughout the interior of the bird. This helps to give favor to the meat, and on the turkey will add moisture to the white meat of the bird. As chicken tends to be fatter omit this step unless dressing the bird. Use Aluminum foil to seal the cavity, the drum stick bone that is exposed, the wingtips which will help to prevent dry out while cooking.

The dressing - Christiana's style

Pending on size of bird will determine how much bread is going to be required. But on a four pound chicken it will take between 6 to 8 slices of whole wheat bread. For every pound of bird thereafter increase by 1.5 slices. This is where a food processor comes in handing for grinding the bread. Don't grind the bread to fine. Pulse the food processor. Using the same method after removing the ground bread grind celery, green pepper, mushrooms and cooking onions. Place in separate bowl. Bread should be in a large bowl as we will be adding these ingredients later. With the organ meat of the bird (heart liver and gizzer along with sausage meat un-salted - no breakfast sausage please) chop this till finely cut. Place in fly pan coated with melted butter and cook meat till tender, than add the ground celery and other ingredient to the fly pan along with spices less bread and stirrer occasionally till tender.

With this ready add to the bread and stir into the bread, and if necessary may have to add additional spice to taste. When mixing you may wish to add a 1/4 cup raisins to the mixer. When dressing is ready, stuff the bird's cavity until full. Do not over stuff. Before stuffing as an option used the method for un-stuffed birds but add red wine to the mixture and follow the process as listed above for cooking un-stuffed birds.

Now that the stuffing is in, and the chicken or turkey is ready, melt real butter, add sage, Rosemarie, basil, salt and pepper and optional red wine to the melted butter and pour over the bird breast up. Cook till the inside temperature is above 70C if not a little hotter.

Place bird on a rack that fits within the roaster. This will make it easier to lift out the bird from the roaster when cooked. Pending size of roaster add about 1/2 inch of water in level to roaster when roaster is sitting level. Place rack and bird in roaster. Use aluminum foil to close up the cavity, protect the drum stick bone ends, and the wing tills. Use a meat temperature prove to check the temperature occasionally. If using a cast iron roaster this step is not needed next. For all others please use. With foil cover the top of the bird rim to rim of the roaster than place lid on roaster. This will help to keep more of the moisture in and prevent dry out.

Recipe.

Whole bird - your choice - chicken or turkey

1/8 lb butter if without dressing

1/4 lb butter it with dressing - You may have to increase the amount pending size of bird.

1/8 TSP of each - basil, Rosemarie, oregano thyme, black pepper

1/4 TSP salt

1/2 TSP sage - make sure the sage is fresh spice

Dressing (recipe is for a four to five pound bird - if more weight increase amounts to correspond to the weight of the bird.

Whole wheat bread - ground

1/8 cup sausage meat

hearts, livers and gizzer chopped finely. If the bird is not package with these, buy chicken hearts and use about eight to ten pending how large they are.

1/8 cup of butter melted - used in cooking the meat and vegs.

1/4 cup raisins - optional

1/8 cup mushrooms

1/4 cup cooking onion

1/8 cup green pepper

1/8 cup celery

1/4 TSP of each - oregano, thyme, basil, salt

1/8 TSP Rosemarie, pepper

1/2 TSP sage

1/8 cup red wine - optional

The coating outside of bird

1/8 cup butter melted with a pinch of thyme, oregano

1/4 TSP sage

1/8 cup red wine - optional.

Do not throw out the juice from the droppings of the bird when cooking as this will be used to make home made gravy. Strain the juice and place into a sauce pan. Take a 1/4 cup of cold water and a TSP of corn starch and mix till attaining a thin paste and add to the boiling juices. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir to thicken, than pull from heat. To add more favor to the gravy add finely chopped onions, and or mushrooms while the juices are heating and cook till tender than add cornstarch mixer to the mix.

Pour gravy over carved meat on a platter, and also add gravy as a topper for individual servings of dressing.

In storing the leftovers, cut all remaining meat from the bones of the bird, and remove all dressing from the bird's cavity. Dressing may be refrigerated up to 1 day, after that dispose of.

Venyson Y-Bake, Mushroom Pasty, Paest Royall

photo of Venyson Y-Bake - enter at the Arch Duchy - Adrian Empire Arts and Science - October 2011 event. Crust is made with recipe of Paest royal - buckwheat flour is used in making the crust.

Venyson Y Bake

Venyson Y-bake - orginal receipt - Take hoghes of Venyson, & parboyle hen in fayre. Water an Salt; & whan pe Fleyssche is fayre y-boylid, amke fayre past, & cat pin Venyson per-on; & caste a boue an be-nepe, pouder Pepir, Gyngere, & Salt, & pan sette it on pe ouyn & lat bake, & serve forth. (Two Fifteeth - Century Cookery Books. Harlein MS . 279)

To bake Veneson. Take nothynge but pepper and salte, but lette is have ynoughe, and yf the Veneson be lean larde it through wyth bacon. (A Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye.

Venyson Y - bake: Country of Orgin England 15th century
2 lbs of ground vension - due to cost of vension been in the 20.00 plus range per KG, I cut this down to 1 lb pound of ground vension and added 1 pound of ground lean beef.
1/2 lb bacon - because of the meat pie been so dry because of the vension and lean dry beef, it may be advisable to increase this amount to 1 lb, and use ground beef, not the lean beef version.
pepper, salt, ginger, grains of paradise (this is a spice that comes from the ginder plant, and has a tendency to be a pepper favor - to find one may have to go to a speciality spice store).
pie crust. It is list below for the recipt under Paest royal. However you may use the other crust provided just below.

Notation; To improve the favor of this meat pie, one may add garlic (crusted garlic - a couple of cloves, and as an option 1/8 cup of finely chopped onions)

To Make Short Paest for Tarte - Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye - 16th century

Take fyne floure and a cursey of fayre water and dyshe of sweet butte and lyttel saffron, and the volckes of two eggs and make it thynne and as tender as ye maye.

This recipe will make a basic standard shortcrust pastry which is inriched with eggyolks and oftern saffron. Can be used for Medieval pastry recipts.

Translation
200 gms flour
1 tsp of salt
100 grams of unsalted butter
pinch of saffron - this is optional as it is used more so to act as a coloring agent. If using buckwheat flour, the color will not be shown as buckwheel is a natural dark flour.
1 egg yolk, and ice water to add.

Sift flour, salt into bowl. Cut and chilled butter into flour choping into small pieces. With figures rub butter into flour, shaking bowl in intervals to bring up the lumps to the top. When completed the misture should look meanly, (breadcrumbs). Drop in eggyolks after making well in mixture, and add a few tablespoons of ice water. Mix together with butterknife. Mixture should start to form lumps, if it does not add ice water a little at a time until mixture does. Form into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap, refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour before using. Roll out on a flour board (you may use wax paper or parchment paper as this makes cleanup easier). Note use a chilled rolling pin. Mixture should make on small pie.

To make the coloring - place saffron in a glass measuring cup, and add a tablespoon of hot water to steep the saffron for a 1/2 hour. This will give you a yellow coloring agent.

In searching for the recipe over the web, I have found sources for the mentioning of this recipe used in courses removed (2nd course). web link http://www.bl.uk/learning/images/texts.cooks

The course removed is listed in "The Good Huswifes Jewell - Serving Courses; and is listed in the second removed which includes roasted lambe, roasted Capons, Roasted Coines, Chickens, Pehennes, Lart and Baked Vensison.

A breifing on Venison - During the medieval ages venison was consider the primary food source. In medieval days the upper society class prized venison as a noble beast and the hunting of them for game was thy honor reserved usually for gentlemen. Pheasant were forbidden by laws to hunt any large gae, abd many of deer were used for the purpose of food which usually came from researved stocks and from deer parks. For the commoner, if hunting a deer on restricted land can mean death or imprisonment for a long time is caught.

Sources:

http://www.godecookery.com/

www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/tx/bookecok.htm

http://jdrrcoeur.org/Cookbook/Cookrye.html

Mushroom pasty, enter as an A&S arts entry for October 2011 event - Duchy of Connacht - Adria.

Mushroom Pasty

Mushroom pasty. In making of this pasty use commerical raised mushrooms as harvesting mushrooms in the wild can be the poisonous type, and some made even be deadly. The orginal main recipe comes from the Menagier de Paris, a French text from the end of the 14th century which is more than a cookbook. Menagier wasn't printed in its own time but several manuscripts were produced; the first been printed by Baron Hierome Pichon in 1846/47.

Oldfrench - (Brereton and Ferrier) Champignons d'une nuyt sont les meilleurs, et sont petiz, vermeilz dedens, cloz, dessus. Et les couvient peler, puis laver en eaue, chaude et pourboulir. Qui en veult mectre en paste', si y mette de l'uille, du frommage et de la pouldre. Item, mecyez les entre deux plats sur charbon, et mectez ung petit de sel, du frommage et de la pouldre, L'en lestreuve en la fin de may et en juing.

Modern adaptation:

2.5 cups of white mushrooms (fairly mushrooms) can use other mushrooms as a substitute which may enhance the favor. Please note: If you do not know which mushrooms are posionous do not go out a pick your own mushrooms, buy them from a reliable source.

3.5 ozs of firm Brie de Meaus or fresh goat cheese. As to where I live this cheese is very limited in supply and I used old chedder cheeze instead.

3.5 ozs of Gruyere (French not Swiss) or parmesan, Pecoring or Manchego. In my case I used parmesan.

2 Tsp of each - ginger, cinnamon, cloves, grains of paradise sugar and a

Pinch of salt.

2 slices of white bread, less crust and crumbled.

Dash of olive oil

Pastry pie crust - options on pie crust may vary from a full pie, to a open pie to closed pasty. If using pasties, use butter or grease for the mold be a release agent. In presenting this pie I used the Paest Royal. See below this recipe for recipe.

Peel and wash mushrooms if the hide of mushroom is tough and old, otherwise rinse under water to remove an foreign particals of matter. Cut off the end stalk and then halve, and keep cutting till chopped. A blender works really good for this task. Use a blender to crumble bread although it is optional, but helps to remove any excessive mositure from the mushrooms. Covering dough on bottom of pan with bread crumbs. If using Brie fopr the pasty, cut of the white crust before dicing the cheeze and if using goat cheese crumble it. Grate the gruyere, parmesan or manchego cheese.

Heat oil, sautee the mushrooms for a couple of minutes until mushrooms release moisture. Drain and pat dry with a clean paper towel to remove excess oil; let to cool. Add cheeses to mushrooms with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 355 F. Grease mold and with a sheet of pastry dough. Fill the cavity with mushroom stuffing. By your choice you can leave the pie open, or cover it with another sheet of dough. Place in middle of oven. Small pasties are usually done in12 to 15 min while large ones can take 30 to 40 minutes. When ready remove from oven and let cool for five minutes before demolding if using molds.

In making this recipe, I prefer to serve mushroom pasties hot. Makes about 12 servings.

It should be noted the pasties were the medieval food take out, and bought at a pastry bakery and could be eaten while on the road, or served as an extra dish a home. Pasties are a form of a small tart that had lids of dough.

Pasteideeg van Lancelot de Casteau

& faictes de la pafte de fine farine auec des oeufs & du beurre, vn peu d'eau, & que la pafte ne foit pasdure, puis battez bien la pafte vn quart d'heure, puis, faites des couuertures bien tennes & delies, & mettez deux l'vne fur l'autre, qu'il foit frotte' de beurre fondu entre deux, puis mettez ce deux couuertes en vne tortiere.

Modern translation

2 cups flour

1 egg

1 Tsp salt

3 Tbsp butter + 2 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup water

Combine flour, salt: melt butter but make sure it does not change color. Stir in melted butter with water and egg. Kneal with flour and cover with plastic or a towel for 1/2 hour room temperature. Divide dough into two portions and roll each out into a thin sheet. Spread melted butter (2 Tbsp) on one sheet, cover with the other sheet. Note: roll out together if necessary pending thickness you may want and dress pie mould r springform with it.

Le Menagier de Paris

Translated: Mushrooms of one might be the best and they be little and red within and closed at the top: and they must be peeled and then washed in hot wate and parboiled and if you wish to put them in a pasty add oil, cheese and spice powder,

Power Eileen. The Goodman of Paris (Le Menagier of Paris), a Treaties on Moral and Domestic Ecomony by A citzen of Paris 1395. Translation Harcout, Brace and company 1928

Source: Le Menagier de Paris: The Medieval Cookbook, by Maggie Black published by British Museum Press (ISBN 0-7141-0583-X)

To improve on flavor one may add crushed garlic cloves to the mushrooms before playing in pasties.

Paest Royall

This pie pastry was use with Mushroom Pasty, and Venyson Y-bake

A propre new booke of Cookery (England 1545)

To make Pyes - and if you will paest royall / take butter and yolkes of egges and so to temper the flource to make the paest.

Translation

4 cups of pastry flour - can substitute buckwheat flour

1 Tsp salt

1.5 cups butter

4 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 to 4 Tbs. ice cold water (pending flour been used may require much more water than what is called for. Add in small amounts until pastry forms)

In bowl (large) combine flour and salt, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly, and somewhat resembles course sand; add egg yolks and than knead, adding the water at a spoonful at a time if and as needed, until pastry forms a ball and leaves side of bowl. Seperate in 2 portions, cover with towel and let stand fro 10-15 minutes; roll out one portion for pie shell and another for the lid. Notation- because this is a crumbly type pastry, it is recommended to roll out on either wax paper or parchment, and one may roll this mixture quite thin to acheive enough pie pastry to do two nine inch pie plates including lids.

Source: www. gocookery.com/goderee

Pie Crust

To make a pastry dough for all shaped pies

(Sabina Welserin)

Take flour, the best that you can get, about two handfuls, depending on how large or small you would have the pie. Put it on the table and with a knife stir in two eggs and a little salt. Put water in a small pan and a piece of fat the size of two good eggs, let it all dissolve together and boil. Afterwards pour it on the flour on the table and make a strong dough and work it well, however you feel is right. If it is summer, one must take meat broth instead of water and in the place of the fat the skimmings from the broth. When the dough is kneaded, then make of it a round ball and draw it out well on the sides with the fingers or with a rolling pin, so that in the middle a raised area remains, then let it chill in the cold. Afterwards shape the dough as I have pointed out to you. Also reserve dough for the cover and roll it out into a cover and take water and spread it over the top of the cover and the top of the formed pastry shell and join it together well with the fingers. Leave a small hole. And see that it is pressed together well, so that it does not come open. Blow in the small hole which you have left, then the cover will lift itself up. Then quickly press the hole closed. Afterwards put it in the oven. Sprinkle flour in the dish beforehand. Take care that the oven is properly heated, then it will be a pretty pastry. The dough for all shaped pastries is made in this manner. :

http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/Period-Pies-art.html - several recipes for free-standing pie crusts.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/pies-msg.html - general discussion of medieval pastry, with several recipes.

In its most basic definition, pie crust is a simple mix of flour and water. The addition of fat makes it pastry. In all times and places, the grade of the ingredients depends upon the economic status of the cook. Apicius [1st Century AD] makes reference to a simple recipe for crust (see below). Medieval cooking texts typically instruct the cook to lay his fruit or meat in a "coffin," no recipe provided. Up through Medieval times, pie crust was often used as a cooking receptacle. It was vented with holes and sometimes marked to distinguish the baker/owner. Whether or not the crust was consumed or discarded is debated by food historians. Some hypothesize the crust would have been rendered inedible due to extreme thickness and baking time. Others observe flour, and by association flour-based products, was expensive and would not have been thrown away. Possibly? Pies baked in grand Medieval houses served two classes: the wealthy at the contents and the crust was given to the servants or poor.

"Pies and tarts...In the Middle Ages, these sweet and savory preparations baked in a crust were the specialty of patissiers--who had no other functions...We know that medieval cooks did not always have ovens, and they worked with patissiers, to whom they sometimes brought fillings of their own making for the patissier to place in a crust and bake. This explains why cookbooks intended for professional chefs were nearly silent about the ingredients of these pastry wrappings, but spoke only about consistency an thickness, and about the most suitable shapes...Still, medieval cooks might take a chance and cook a simple pie or tart on their own by placing it in a shallow pan, covered with a lid and surrounded by live embers, whose progress they had to monitor very closely...In effect, the pastry because an oven, ensuring moderate heat thanks to its insulating properties...So could it be that these pastry coverings were not necessarily eaten once they had done their job of containing and protecting the fillings?"

---The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy, Odile Redon et al, [University of Chicago Press:Chicago] 1998 (p. 133-4)

Pie crusts are listed with their receipe respectively below in Apple Pear Pies.

Various Authors. “Stefan’s Florilegium flour-msg”
<http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-BREADS/flour-msg.html>

Apple Pear Fruit Pies

Fruit pies of the 15th and 16th century. Included is the pastry crust recipe for each of the pies.

Medieval Fruit Pies – Apple, Pear

Facts and interesting information about Medieval Food and meals,
specifically, Medieval Fruit

Medieval Fruit
The wealthy nobles of the Middle Ages ate little fresh fruit and unprepared food of this variety and was viewed with some suspicion. Fruit was usually served in pies or was preserved in honey and fresh fruit was traditionally  eaten by the poor. Little was known on nutrition and the Medieval diet of the rich Nobles lacked Vitamin C and fiber which led to an assortment of health problems from bad teeth, to skin diseases, scurvy and rickets!

Medieval Fruit availability

Western Europe was originally very poor in fruits, and was improved by foreign importations, mostly from Asia by the Romans. The apricot came from Armenia, the pistachio-nuts and plums from Syria, the peach from Persia, the cherry from Cerasus, the lemon from Media, the pomegranate, the quince from Cydon in Crete; the olive, fig, pear, and apple, from Greece. The quince, generally cultivated in Medieval Times, was looked upon as the most useful of fruits. Not only did quince form the basis of the farmers' dried preserves to make a sort of marmalade, but it also served for seasoning meat. Several sorts of cherries were known, but did not prevent the small wild or wood cherry from being appreciated at the tables of the peasants.

Wild and Exotic Medieval Fruit
The Portuguese claimed the honor of having introduced oranges from China. Raspberries were still completely wild and wood strawberries have been introduced into gardens in Medieval times. Apples was the only cultivated fruit, but their are other varieties that grew wild. Some wild fruits like pears, quinces, and peaches were served on a few medieval tables. Wild strawberries, raspberries, and red currants could be found in the woods. It was only Nobility that could afford exotic fruits such as dates. It is about the same date melons begin to appear and were watered them with honeyed or sweetened water.

Medieval Fruit
The following fruits were available during the Medieval era, even though many were looked upon with sheer distain, especially by the Upper Classes. Below is a list of some of the fruit available during Medieval times of the Middle Ages:

§         Apples

§         Oranges

§         Lemons

§         Apricot

§         Quince

§         Peaches

§         Cherries

§         Strawberries

§         Raspberries

§         Red currants

§         Melons

§         Pomegranate

 

PIES

Pies; the filling and baking of sweet fruits, nuts, and cheese or savory  which are of meat, fish, eggs, cheese as primary ingredients and spices in casings composed of flour, fat, and water is an ancient practice. The basic concept of pies and tart changed little throughout the ages. Cooking methods baked or fried in ancient hearths, portable colonial/pioneer Dutch ovens, modern ovens, flat bread, flour/fat/water crusts, puff paste, milles feuilles, and cultural preference: pita, pizza, quiche, shepherd's, lemon meringue, classic apple, chocolate pudding, alll figure prominently into the complicated history of this particular genre of food.

The first pies were very simple and generally of the savory kind. Flaky pastry fruit-filled turnovers appeared later in the early 19th century. Some pie-type foods are made for individual comsumption of which these portable pies... pasties, turnovers, empanadas, pierogi, calzones...were enjoyed by working classes and sold by street vendors. Pie variations; cobblers, slumps, grunts, etc. are endless!

The Oxford English Dictionary traces the first use of the word "pie" as it relates to food to 1303, noting the word was well-known and popular by 1362.

"Pie...a word whose meaning has evolved in the course of many centuries and which varies to some extent according to the country or even to region....The derivation of the word may be from magpie, shortened to pie. The explanation offered in favour or this is that the magpie collects a variety of things, and that it was an essential feature of early pies that they contained a variety of ingredients....Early pies were large; but one can now apply the name to something small, as the small pork pies or mutton pies...Early pies had pastry tops, but modern pies may have a topping of something else...or even be topless. If the basic concept of a pie is taken to mean a mixture of ingredients encased and cooked in pastry, then proto-pies were made in the classical world and pies certainly figured in early Arab cookery."
---The Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] (p. 602-3)

A fourteenth century apple pie

A. Redaction

From The Forme of Cury: XXVII For to make Tartys in Applis.

Tak gode Applys and gode Spycis and Figys and reysons and Perys and wan they are wel ybrayed colourd with Safron wel and do yt in a cofyn and yt forth to bake wel. 

Modern Redaction:

Filling:

• 8 large Golden Delicious apples, if available Granny Smith apples peeled, cored and sliced
• 4 Bartlet pears peeled, cored and sliced
• ½ cup of raisins
• ½ cup of figs, sliced
• 2 tsp cinnamon,
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp ginger
• ¼ tsp cloves   
• a pinch of saffron

Pie Shell (modified slightly from “Raising a Coffin”):

• 2 cups of wheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup of butter
• ½ cup of milk
• egg yolks for glazing

Rub a tablespoon of the butter into the flour and salt with your fingertips. Take the remaining butter, and add it to the liquid. Heat the liquid over med. heat until it just breaks a boil, and the butter is melted. Make a well in the flour, dump in the liquid and melted fat, and stir quickly with a wooden spoon to combine. Cover with a cloth to keep it warm, and let the dough rest for 10 minutes or so in a warm place.

Pinch off two thirds of the very warm dough. Reserve the remaining third for the lid, in a bowl with a cloth covering it. The amount that was made was used on and inch base, with sides approx. 2 to 3 inches high. Pat the dough into a circle. With knuckles, thumbs, palms, and any other means possible, mold the dough into a bowl shape or cylinder. Splay out the top edges slightly.

Roll the remaining dough into a circle. Flatten out into a ten inch circle. Cut a one-inch circle in the center. If you have any excess dough, use it to decorate the lid or sides with rosettes, leaves, vines, etc. Score the bottoms of these with a fork, and moisten, then attach to a scored section of the lid. When the pie has been filled, moisten the edges of the base. Put the lid on top. Pinch the edges together. Using a small knife or kitchen shears, cut small, inch deep cuts into the edges, making an even number, all around the edge. Fold every other "notch" down, to make a crenellated edge. Pinch the crenellations to ensure they stay down.

Mix all of the pie filing ingredients together. Pour into the pie shell and cover with the pie lid. Bake at 350º F for one hour. After one hour, glaze the pie shell with the egg yolk for a lovely golden brown color. Return to the oven for another twenty minutes.  

A sixteenth century apple pie

A. Redaction

From A Propre new booke of Cokery: To make pies of grene apples.

Take your apples and pare them cleane and core theim as ye will a Quince then make your coffyne after this maner take a little faire water and halfe a disshe of butter and a little safron and set all this vpon a chafyngdisshe till it be hote  then temper your flower with this vpon a chafyngdissh till it be hote then temper your floure with this said licour and the white of two egges and also make your coffyn and ceason your apples with Sinamon  ginger and suger inough. Then put them into your coffyn and laie halfe a disshe of butter aboue them and close your coffyn and so bake them. 

Modern Redaction:

Filling:

• 10 large Golden Delicious, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• ½ cup of butter, cut into pieces, room temperature

Pie Crust:

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour – (or other types of flour)

Have made using all purpose flour and buckwheat flour

• pinch of saffron (you may choose to leave out – as this is a coloring agent)
• 1 cup of water
• ½ cup of butter
• 2 egg whites

Mix the butter, the saffron and the water together and simmer over a low heat. Do not boil. Arrange the flour in a bowl so there is a well. Pour the butter mixture into the well and begin working the dough. Add two egg whites to the dough. Knead in a little extra flour if needed but do not over-knead. Roll out into two shells. 

Mix all of the pie ingredients together, except the butter, and pour into the pie shell. Carefully place the butter on top of the apple mixture. Cover with the lid. Bake at 375º F for one hour.

Bibliography

Burke, Ray. “The Bee, The Reed, The Root: The History of Sugar”, 1997.
<http://www2.gasou.edu/gsufl/sugar/sugar-b.htm>
    
Flandrin, Jean. “Seasoning, Cooking and Dietetics in the Late Middle Ages” from Food, a Culinary History, New York, 1999.
 
The Forme of Curye, facsimile. Friedman, David and Elizabeth Cook.
<http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/foc/>

“Concerning Trees and Their Fruit”, 1988.
<http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/trees.html>
    
Gerard, John. Herball or generall historie of plants, 1594.
<http://rainweaver.com/Herbal_Guild/mandrake.html>

Herr-Gelatt, Lis, writing as Dame Aoife Finn. "Raising a Coffin or the Fine Art of Making Period Pies."
<http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/Period-Pies-art.html>

Hieatt, Constance and Butler, Sharon. editors and translators. Curye on Inglysch. England, 1985.
 
Matterer, James. “To make a Char de Crabb”, 1998.
<http://www.godecookery.com/goderec/grec77.html>

McDaniel, Amanda “Galen.” University of Virginia; 2003.
<http://hsc.virginia.edu/hs-library/historical/antiqua/galen.htm>

A Propre new booke of Cokery, facsimile.  James L. Matterer, trans.
<http://www.godecookery.com/trscript/trscript.html>
 
Redon, Odile, Francoise Sabban and Silvano Serventi. The Medieval Kitchen. Trans. Edward Schneider. Chicago, 1998.

Rumpolt, Marxen. Ein New Kochbuch, Germany, 1581. Grasse, M, translator.
<http://clem.mscd.edu/~grasse/GK_ASappletart.htm>

Scully, D. Eleanor. Early French Cookery. Ann Arbor, 1995.

Scully, Terence. The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages. Woodbridge, England. 1995.

Scully, Terence, trans. Cuoco Napoletano: The Neapolitan Recipe Collection. Ann Arbor, 2002.

Washington Apple Education Foundation, “Golden Delicious”
<http://www.bestapples.com/varieties/golden.html>
  
Various Authors. “Stefan’s Florilegium flour-msg”
<http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-BREADS/flour-msg.html>

Valoise Armstrong (tr) Der Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin (1553). http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Sabrina_Welserin.html
Luigi Ballerini (ed), Jeremy Parzen (tr) and Stefania Barzini (2005) The Eminent Maestro Martino of Como: The Art of Cooking: The First Modern Cookery Book. California Studies in Food and Culture, 14. Edited and with an Introduction by Luigi Ballerini, Translated and Annotated by Jeremy Parzen, and with Fifty Modernized Recipes by Stefania Barzini. http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9423.html
Catherine Francis Frere, ed. (1913) A Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye (of the sixteenth century). In A collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks, 1991, Duke Cariadoc of the Bow.
Constance B. Hieatt and Sharon Butler, eds (1985). Curye on Inglysch: English culinary manuscripts of the fourteenth century (including the Form of Cury). London: Oxford UP.
Gervase Markham (1683) The English Housewife. Transcribed by Kirrily Robert, http://infotrope.net.sca/texts/english-housewife
Cindy Renfrow, 1991, Take a Thousand Eggs or More: A Collection of 15th Century Recipes, Volume 1, published privately
Terence Scully (1995) The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages. Woodbridge: Boydell.
Comments in making the 14^th century apple pie.

In the making of this pie, I Christiana have included recipes from the gode cookery for the filling and used the recipe from Propre New Book of Cokery – Pie crust from England 1545. It is also listed in this blog. Account of no oven for the campout, the pie was made in a residencial house kitchen, and transported ready made.

In attempting the first try at this recipe it should be noted not to try and reheat to serve hot, as this has a tendency to harden the pastry of the pie. The first attempt was made with, all purpose flour, and the use of butter and this may have in fact when reheated on uneven heat (camp stove) may have been the cause to make the crust hard. The second pie, was not reheated in this method, but allow to warm up to outdoor temperature which was 30 degrees C. and thus the crust was tender and in making the crust tender did take up some moisture from the pie filling.

Farce Eggs (Deviled eggs)

Dish  of Farce Eggs prepare by Mistress Christiana Elizabeth Constable a member

of the Duchy of Connacht - Adrian Empire

To Farce Eggs

Take 8 eggs and boile them hard. Peel off shells, cut every egg in the middle: them take out yoks. Make your farcing stuff as you do, for fles saving only you must put butter into it instead of suet and that a little so done, fill your eggs where yolks were and them bring them and swwthe them a lttle. And so serve them to the table. (The Good Housewife jewel  Thomas Dawson, withan introduction by Maggie Black {London 1596} p 86.

The making of Stuffed eggs

Take as many eggs as you like, and boil them whole in hot water, put them in cold water and split them in half with a thread, Take the yolks aside and pound cilantro, and put in onion juice, pepper and coriander, and beat with murri, oil and salt and kneal the yolks with this until it forms a dough. Then stuff the whites with this and fasten it together, insert a small stick into each egg and sprinkle them with pepper. God willing (Anonymous Andalusiein Cookbook of 13th century - translated by Charles Perry)

This recipt is close to the one I Christiana learned at an arts and science session at the 2010 Tir Righ Arts and Sciences October - Kamloops. This is the closest version to that of my lost notes. Please note that some items were not available and substitutes were made.

Translation and substitutes

List of ingredients and methods

A doz eggs hard boils, with the yolks removed and placed in mixing bowls

Grind up the cilantro and onions - Cilantro were substituted with spinach.

Add olive oil and red wine vinegar (optional) and mixed all together with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Make into a dough and at to egg whites, and serve.

I Christiana also took a session on Roman Cookery at the same event, and for those that wish to try this recipe remove the cilantro and add an oil fish like anchovy paste. It will have a tendency to taste salty so you may wish to not add salt to this recipe.

Deviled eggs have their roots in ancient Rome recipes with the first published recipes for stuffed boiled eggs there from Medieval Europe. It should be noted that the term deviled name was coined in 18th Century England.

Where did the English word egg originate from? Eggs track it name back to prehistoric Indo European source related to words birds. The old English term was oeg, which survived in Middle English, as eq (plural eyren) but in the 14th century the related egg was borrowed from Old Norse (Oxford University Press Oxrd) 2002 pg 117.

Preparation of Eggs: As most do not have the luxury of collection of fresh eggs, most will have to acquire the eggs from the local grocery store. The eggs for this process should not be farm flesh, as if they are quite flesh, and when coming to removing the shell, the shell will have a tendency to stick while peeling. Since I use to raise chickens, the flesh eggs would not have much of an air sack and would sink to the bottom of the pan. Store bought eggs will have a tendency to point upward when in water. If they float totally the egg is very old, and should not be used.

To center the yolks before cooking, one may lay the eggs on there side. Eggs from the store are stored upright, and the yolk will tend to settle to the bottom on the egg. In placing them on their sides this helps in centering the yolk which will take about 12 hours.

Cooking the eggs: Bring eggs up to room temperature. You can speed this process up by running warm water over the egg, until reaching room temperature. The temperature of the egg at start of cooking will affect the cooking time (eggs at room temperature will require approx 1 minute less cooking time than eggs taken directly from the refrigerator).

Place eggs in a single layer in a pan with enough cold water cover eggs completely covered.

Bring eggs to a boil, remove from heat, cover tightly with a lid, and allow to remain in water for 15 to 20 minutes. If eggs are boiled, or cooked to long, the protein toughens and or will become rubbery and a greenish or purplish ring forms around the yolk.

Place hot eggs under running cold water to cool quickly which is also known as "codding." This can also be done also by placing cold water and ice in a pan to speed up the process. This allow steam to form under the shell, and will help in easing the egg white from sticking to the shell and will help assist you in the egg shell peeling process easier.

Storage: If not going to the next step immediately you will have to refrigerate the hard boil eggs within hours. Hard cooked eggs in the shell will keep for a week. Please note do not peel the eggs of their shells till ready to process in the next steps.

Steps:

1) Let eggs cool than peel

2) Using sharp knife cut eggs lengthwise in half

3) Remove egg yolk and place yolk in mixing bowl

4) Using fork mash egg yolks together

5) Add ingredients to mashed egg yolks

6) fill eggs whites with yolk mixture to have mixture heaping

7) Arrange filled white on plate

8) garnish with desired toppings

NOTE: Serve well chilled:  Stuffed eggs may be made more more than one day in advance and MUST be kept covered and refrigerated. 3 C is the idea temperature for storage. Note: As temperature increases in storing and or serving, undesirable bacteria will form within hours, therefore it is important to keep chilled until served.

As I Christiana have many variations of farce eggs, I have included the recipe of the dish shown in the photo above. You may wish to leave the mayonnaise out, but you will have to apply a binder for the egg dough, which can be made of red wine vinegar, and olive oil. Therefore where I call for mayonnaise substitute this in its place

12 eggs hard boil with yolks removed                            1 1/2 tablespoons of mayonnaise

tsp of onion juice                                                          salt and pepper to taste

pinch of dill weed ground

Topping

pinch of Spanish Paprika

shrimp or olives - black or green

tooth picks.

Optional - Substitute for mayonnaise

1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

Serves 12 assuming two halves for each. Note it is not everyone that wishes to eat farce eggs, but it does work as an advertiser before a meal.





Glazed Carrots

Honey Glazed Carrots

A bit of history: The 16 century Netherlands seen the development of the orange carrots that we have today. Prior to the 16th center the carrot range in colors from red, purple, yellow and white. The carrot originated from regions around Pakistan and Afghanistan and it still to be the center for carrot diversity. Carrots arrived in Roman Times in the eastern Mediterranean and was introduced in Italy, and Greece before moving to the Middle East. In the 14th century carrots are mentioned in the "Le Menagier Paris" as been red roots sold at markets. It should be noted that some of these Medieval varieties are still possible to attain which have names as Purple Dragon (Dragon), Comic Purple, Labyana, a Slovenian yellow variety and Flemish white. Taste can be similar from old varieties to our common everyday variety however the yellow carrots appear to have a coarser texture making them better for soups and stewing. In Archaeological finds of the 9th and 10 century Viking foodstuffs of vegetables were found in Jorvik (York), Danalaw (England) which were carrots, parsnips, turnips, celery, spinach, brassicus (cabbage)

Carrots are a conical root vegetable, which grows a green leafy stalk and should not be eaten when unripe

source of history

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html - History of the carrot

http://nvg.org.au/documents/other/vikingrecipes.pdf  archaeological digs and recipe

Recipe (1) Honey Glazed Root Vegetables - from Vikingars Gastabud (The Viking Feast)

Ingredients

1 turnip                                                 2 to 3 carrots peeled

1 1/4 heat of white cabbage                  1 leek

butter                                                   honey

salt and pepper

Peel all root vegetable required for recipe and cut into bite size pieces. Boil roots all together in slightly salted water for about 5 minutes and drain. In a fry pan add butter. Once butter is melted add the boiled roots to the pan and suttee till soft. When near soft add cabbage and leeks (cut into pieces before adding) with the roots vegetables. Add honey and stir carefully. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot: Serves four.

Note: Some people may not care for the flavor of turnips and or cabbage within the glazed carrots so included below are two different versions. which make two tasty dishes

(Recipe 2) Version 2   http://cookit.e2bn.org/historycookbook/printview-922-honey-glazed-carrots.html

Ingredients

5 carrots                                              1/2 Tsp of salt

20 oz butter                                         3 oz of runny honey

2 tablespoons cider vinegar                  1 teaspoon dried mint

1 Tbsp of cress (cut finely)                   Sliced radishes

(Recipe 3) The version Christiana uses

5 large peeled carrots                           1/2 Tsp of salt

8 oz butter                                           3 oz of runny honey

1/4 Tsp Cinnamon                                dash of nutmeg

1/8 cup raisins                                      Optional - pine nuts, or walnuts, or almonds

salt and pepper

Preparations for recipe version 2 and 3. Peel carrots, cut either into silvers or cross cut no thicker than a 1/4 inch. Boil carrots till just about tender, remove and drain let stand. This should take about 15 minutes. Take butter and met in large fry pan. To melted butter add spices and or vinegar (recipe 2) and stir. Do not burn the butter. Add the drain carrots and other ingredients to mixture, and stir carefully. Add honey, and stir for about 5 minutes. Serve hot - serves six